Charlemagne Tha God — the self-proclaimed “prince of pissing people off” — recently spoke with Vulture to examine the significance of The Breakfast Club’s interview with Hillary Clinton on April 18.
With just one day to go before the New York Primary, presidential candidate Clinton appeared on the popular radio program to discuss a variety of topics including Beyoncé and Donald Trump. Her appearance on the show — whose audience is 60 percent African American and 40 percent everyone else — was, Charlemagne says, a victory for the culture of Hip Hop.
“America used to say that hip-hop was a cancer,” he reflected. “Then it embraced that cancer and realized, ‘Hey, this isn’t a bad thing. It is part of us, just more America.’
“We came in with the mind-set not to ask her anything she could respond to with a talking point, like on CNN, to just talk some [N-word] shit with her,” Charlemagne explained. “Five years ago you’d have seen her with some black congressman, possibly Al Sharpton. For sure we couldn’t have talked to her like that. If we did, how would she have taken it? Would she have rolled with it like that?”
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Elsewhere in the interview, Charlemagne (born Lenard McKelvey) explained the origins of his stage name.
“[When I got out or prison] people still knew me as Charles, so when I came across Charlemagne in a history book, that sounded good: Charles the Great, a warrior who used his power to spread religion and education. He was the head of the Carolingian dynasty, and with me being from South Carolina, that clicked. I got his name tattooed on my forearm. But I didn’t like the ein Charlemagne. The a looked better.”
Charlemagne later revealed that Tha God part came from the Five Percenters organization.
“The 5 percent, the nation of gods and earths, those who try to change the world for the better. That’s how I saw myself.”
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To read the full interview, where Charlemagne also chronicles his journey from local drug dealer in Moncks Corner, South Carolina to his current standing as a cultural personality and influencer, head on over to Vulture.
For additional Charlamagne Tha God coverage, watch the following DX Daily:
